U.S. stock index futures point to flat open

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures indicated a flat-to-slightly lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with some traders citing nervousness ahead of results from financial group Wells Fargo due later in the day.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were flat by 0930 GMT, while futures for the Dow Jones were 0.1 percent lower.

* Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner jet suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday - the latest in a series of incidents to test confidence in the sophisticated new aircraft.

* Infosys Ltd posted flat third-quarter net profits, beating analyst expectations, as the second-largest Indian software services provider maintained margins despite higher operating costs. It also raised revenue forecast for the full year to end March.

* Credit card company American Express Co said it would cut about 5,400 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its workforce, as it restructures its business and pays legal bills.

* Unsecured creditors of MF Global Holdings Ltd on Thursday proposed a liquidation plan that could pay the brokerage’s former customers in full.

* Exxon Mobil Corp reported flaring at its 344,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery, according to a message posted on a community information line.

* Tycoon Carlos Slim’s retail unit said it plans to relist on the Mexican stock exchange, offering a 15.2 percent stake to raise some $720 million to fund expansion plans, including possible acquisitions.

* Supervalu Inc struck a $3.3 billion deal to reduce its burdensome debt by selling five of its supermarket chains to an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management LP .

* The Federal Reserve’s policy of zero interest rates and asset purchases is appropriate and perhaps even insufficient, said Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed.

* European shares were flat on Friday although the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index remained within sight of two-year highs.